If 4 apples is 16 dollars them 1 apple is 16÷4 dollars? Why do we use division here? What does it mean? If a car goes 60meter in 60 seconds,it goes 60÷60 m in 1s. How does that work? Why division and why not other operators like subtraction? How does this work?
2026-04-08 06:05:54.1775628354
Why do we use division to find the value of 1 item?
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This is usually called "cross-multiplication" and is a simple consequence of "proportionality".
But note that "proportionality" is an unspoken assumption in the two examples you give.
If the cost of apples is proportional to the number of apples, then you can divide the price by the number of apples to get the price of one apple.
But in some stores, 1 apple costs 5 dollars, a bundle of 2 apples costs 9 dollars (the store is happy that you bought two so they reduce the cost-per-apple), a bundle of 3 apples costs 14 dollars and a bundle of 4 apples costs 16 dollars.
Likewise, if a car is stopped and has to accelerate from speed 0 to maximum speed, maybe it goes 60 meter in 60 seconds, but it'll go a lot less than 1m in the first 1s at the beginning and a lot more than 1m in the last 1s at the end.